


Old King Cole

by hotshoe_again



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: 221B Ficlet, Climate Change, Established Relationship, M/M, Post-Brexit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:34:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21664531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hotshoe_again/pseuds/hotshoe_again
Summary: Old King Cole had the right idea: call for the fiddlers to make merry.
Kudos: 11
Collections: 2019 Advent Ficlet Challenge





	Old King Cole

**Author's Note:**

> "the more the merrier" prompt, December 3, 2019

Coffee is impossible to obtain, as is tea from India or China. Thank god for _Camellia Sinensis_ , which grows adequately in England with winter shelter. Britons can still count on their restorative cups of tea. 

And thank god for beer. Easy to brew at home: just a sack of barley, large pot of water, homegrown hops. Industrial-scale breweries have problems with supply and transport, so more and more people make their own. Sherlock joyfully experiments with an ancient Mediterranean style, with honey and spices added to barley fermentation. 

Early December, all the neighbors hold a block party. They rope off the street -- they can get away with that since traffic was minimal anyway -- wrap up warm, bring out tables, share the spiciest food, and show off a dozen different batches of beer. The more the merrier, John thinks. He tries at least one sip of each. Some were ... not terrible, to put it kindly ... some were damn good. He's not drunk, maybe a bit tipsy. 

An acoustic jam begins, swinging Klezmer/Pakistani music, irresistibly danceable. Sherlock fits in with his fiddle. John flinches when Sherlock grimaces; his hands had not healed right, but the pleasure of playing music is worth pain. At the first chance, John hugs him. "Can you rest a moment? Will you eat? Here, have a honey beer."

**Author's Note:**

> somehow inspired by this ancient nursery rhyme:  
> Good King Cole,  
> And he call'd for his Bowle,  
> And he call'd for Fidler's three;  
> And there was Fiddle, Fiddle,  
> And twice Fiddle, Fiddle,  
> For 'twas my Lady's Birth-day,  
> Therefore we keep Holy-day  
> And come to be merry. 
> 
> The "bowle" is a drinking vessel.  
> 


End file.
